4 Indians Listed In ‘100 Women Who Changed The World’

BBC History magazine has compiled a list of “100 women who changed the world”. The list features 100 inspirational women from history.10 experts from different fields were chosen to nominate 10 women they believe had the biggest impact on world history. Then, it was upto the readers to vote for their favourite figures from the list.

Marie Curie
Marie Curie

Poland-born Marie Curie, who undertook pioneering research into radioactivity in the early 20th century was voted number one. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize and the first person to win two Nobel laureates. Along with Pierre Curie, she discovered two new elements: Radium and Polonium and named it after her native Poland.

Curie was followed by Rosa Parks, Emmeline Pankhurst, Ada Lovelace and Rosalind Franklin in the list of “100 women who changed the world.”

The list includes 4 Indian women who have made a significant impact, not only in the country but also the world
1. Mother Teresa : 
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa is ranked 20th in the list of “100 women who changed the world”.

Born in Albania, Mother Teresa, was a Roman Catholic nun who lived in India for most of her life. In 1950 she founded the Missionaries of Charity and provided free service to the poorest of the poor along with the other sisters that joined her mission. She undertook the work in over 130 countries. Her congregation manages homes for people dying of HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis; soup kitchens; dispensaries and mobile clinics; children’s- and family-counselling programmes; orphanages, and schools.

She received the Nobel Peace prize in 1979. She was also recognized as a ‘saint’ by the church in 2016.

2. Indira Gandhi : 
Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi

Indira Gandhi is listed on number 49th in the “100 women who changed the world”.

Daughter of India’s first Prime Minister – Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira was known for her political ruthlessness and unprecedented centralisation of power. She is till date the only woman Prime Minister of the country. She ruled the country on two occasions, from 1966 to 1977 and from 1980 until 1984 when she was assassinated by her own bodyguards. She went to war with Pakistan in support of the independence movement and war of independence in East Pakistan, which resulted in an Indian victory and the creation of Bangladesh. She is infamous for the imposition of emergency from 1975 to 1977.

3. Sarojini Naidu : 
Sarojini Naidu
Sarojini Naidu

Sarojini Naidu has been included in the “100 women who changed the world” on number 77th.

Sarojini Naidu also known as the Nightingale of India, was a freedom fighter and poet. She was the first Indian woman to be president of the Indian National Congress and to be appointed an Indian state Governor of the United Provinces, now Uttar Pradesh. She participated in the salt satyagraha of 1930 and was jailed along with MK Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Madan Mohan Malaviya and others. She played a leading role in the Civil Disobedience Movement and was jailed along with Gandhi and other leaders. In 1942, she was arrested during period of the “Quit India”.

4. Amrita Pritam : 
Amrita Pritam
Amrita Pritam

 

Amrita Pritam occupies the 100th position in the “100 women who changed the world”.

Amrita Pritam was a writer and poet, who wrote in Punjabi and Hindi. She is considered the first prominent woman Punjabi poet, novelist, and essayist, and the leading 20th-century poet of the Punjabi language, who is equally loved on both sides of the India-Pakistan border. With a career spanning over six decades, she produced over 100 books of poetry, fiction, biographies, essays, a collection of Punjabi folk songs and an autobiography that were translated into several Indian and foreign languages.

(PHOTO CREDIT : Twitter/BBC History Magazine)